Spring Music Preview: April : Rolling Stone

In addition to Neil Young's automotively inspired Fork in the Road and the debut from unlikely power pop supergroup Tinted Windows, April also brings the Bob Dylan's Tex-Mex surprise Together Through Life, which is rumored to include a bit of accordion work by Los Lobos' David Hidalgo. New Orleans stalwart Allen Toussaint offers his first solo set in a decade and British emcee Lady Sovereign returns with a fresh batch of grime rhymes. Here's what else to watch for:

Bob Dylan

Together Through Life 4/28

Unlike 2006's Modern Times, which was made entirely with his touring band, Bob Dylan's surprise new disc features guests musicians who are rumored to include Los Lobos' David Hidalgo on accordion. The album is filled with Delta-blues riffs, hard-swinging shuffles and country ballads, with the prominent accordion lending a strong Tex-Mex feel. Dylan's black sense of humor and pessimistic worldview come through in songs like "I Feel a Change Coming On," "Life is Hard" and "My Wife's Home Town," on which he growls, "State gone broke, the county's dry/Don't be lookin' at me with that evil eye."

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• Inside Bob Dylan's Surprise New Album

Bob Mould

Life and Times 4/7

"Workbook was a great record," recalls Bob Mould of the bracing 1989 album that marked the start of his solo career after the breakup of Hüsker Dü. "It paid really good dividends emotionally and professionally." Upon realizing that the album's 20th anniversary was upon him, Mould was inspired to return to its "style and feel" on Life and Times. On guitar-fueled blasts like the title track and the anti-Internet spew "Wasted World," Life and Times (recorded at Mould's home studio in DC, with only Mountain Goats drummer John Wurster backing him up) revives the crisp melodies and blend of acoustic and electric guitars of Workbook, abandoning Mould's recent forays into electronica and power pop. Still, Mould hears artistic growth on tracks like the moody-shifting breakup rocker "The Breach." "Usually a song builds to a rage and never settles down," he says. "Here the rage keeps building and then you have a peaceful resolve. It was like, 'Wow, I've never done that before.'"

Lady Sovereign

Jigsaw 4/7

Sov pulls a Kanye! Pint-sized British rapper Lady Sovereign tests out her singing chops on her second disc, which she's self-releasing on her new label Midget Records. On the title track, Sov croons in a frills-free voice about a recent breakup over orchestral flourishes and a dark electro beat. "I don't care if my voice doesn't sound really good," says Sov. "I just really enjoyed doing it." Still, the MC delivers plenty of her trademark bratty, hip-hop jams, from the Go Gos-ish electro pop groove "Student Union" to the sweaty auto-tune heavy track "I Got You Dancing."

• Listen to "I Got You Dancing"
• Listen to "So Human"

Silversun Pickups

Swoon 4/14

The Los Angeles alt-rockers spent a full year crafting the ambitious follow-up to their 2006 debut, Carnavas — which spawned two Top 10 rock-radio hits. "We weren't interested in just shitting out another record," says frontman Brian Aubert. The quartet meticulously layered strings, keyboards and Smashing Pumpkins-style guitar crunch — tracking the guitars took five weeks alone — onto Aubert's 120 Minutes-ready epics about nervous breakdowns ("Panic Switch") and screwy relationships ("Catch & Release"). "2008 was bad," he says. "The new record maps out my year — going pretty good, getting awful, even worse and then getting better."

Asher Roth

Asleep in the Bread Aisle 4/20

"Asher Roth's speedy, precise flow — and skin color — has earned him Eminem comparisons, but the Pennsylvania rapper's studio debut comes from a different perspective: that of a privileged suburbanite. "I played Little League and went to Presbyterian high school," he says. "People are going to be like, 'What can this kid tell me about the struggle?' " The frat-party anthem (and hit single) "I Love College" pays homage to keg stands and drunken hookups over the chords from Weezer's "Say It Ain't So"; the reggae-flavored "Blunt Cruisin' " reminisces about getting baked while driving in a Ford Taurus. "My dad has criticized some stuff on the album," says Roth. "But whatever. It's almost 2010, you know?"

• Listen to "I Love College"

Allen Toussaint

The Bright Mississippi 4/21

For his first solo set in over a decade, New Orleans R&B legend Allen Toussaint — helped by producer Joe Henry — assembled an all-star jazz band (including guitarist Marc Ribot and trumpeter Nicholas Payton) for this disc of standards. Anchored by Toussaint's understated piano, the instrumental record includes versions of Crescent City classics like "St. James Infirmary" and "West End Blues," as well as tunes by Monk and Ellington. Toussaint's take sits somewhere between R&B and jazz, balancing song form with improv. "We definitely made sure that we didn't just jam," he says. "There was a marriage of the old and the new."

Allen Toussaint performs "Day Dream" feat. Joshua Redman

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Depeche Mode

Sounds of the Universe 4/21

"On all of our records, there's a thread of faith, hope and despair," says Depeche Mode singer Dave Gahan. "The difference with this one is that it looks outward rather than inward." Recorded with Blur producer Ben Hillier, the group's 12th record was created with a massive arsenal of vintage keyboards and drum machines, and is a return to the sound of the 1990 industrial synth-pop masterpiece Violator — particularly on the pulsating leadoff single, "Wrong."

• Listen to "Wrong"

Heaven and Hell

The Devil You Know 4/28

They may call themselves Heaven and Hell, but this group is known to metalheads as the Ronnie James Dio-fronted incarnation of Black Sabbath. After a tour in 2007, the four hit the studio to cut what's essentially the first new Sabbath album since 1995. "Tony Iommi had enough riffs for 40 albums," says bassist Geezer Butler. Dio's lyrics stay true to the group's trademark themes — evil, death and religion — on songs like "Atom and Evil," "Rock and Roll Angel" and "Eating the Cannibals." "That one is about the government," says Dio. "It's a way of saying politicians are screwing us, so we're going to eat them.